- 4/22/2025
WRIF Virtual Rock Room with Pierce the Veil's Vic Fuentes
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FunTranscript
00:00Thank you so much for watching Riff TV. Now, this interview is obviously with video, but I don't interview everybody on Zoom.
00:07That's why I put it on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast. We talk to rock artists from all over the genre.
00:13So check out Talkin' Rock with Meltdown wherever you get your podcasts. And now, to today's video interview.
00:20Vic, great to see you, man. How's things going with you?
00:23Oh, fantastic. Pretty good, man. I am home in San Diego. Just got home from our UK tour and getting our nursery ready for our baby.
00:34Oh, is that right? So now you've got to fill me in. Is this your first one?
00:39First baby. First baby. It's a daughter. My little girl's coming in February.
00:45Well, that's cool. Congratulations, man.
00:47Thank you. Appreciate it.
00:48What are you looking forward to the most as far as fatherhood?
00:52Um, God, I just, I don't know. I just want to, like, meet her and, like, and just hang with her and just, I don't know, just get to know her because, you know, all we get to feel is her moving around the belly right now.
01:06So I think we're just excited to meet her, you know?
01:08No, that's awesome. That's great. Yeah, my daughter's 21 and she's a country music fan.
01:13So, but you know what? She's a music fan. And, you know, I never, like, pushed my kids in any sort of direction.
01:18And, you know, I kind of let them discover this stuff by themselves. Is that kind of going to be your playbook, you think?
01:24Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'll start her off early. I'm already singing her Beatles songs and stuff like that.
01:30So we'll kind of start there and, you know, maybe move into some Stones and maybe to some Aerosmith and then get into the, I don't know, we'll see where it goes.
01:39Are you a big Beatles fan? I didn't know that.
01:41I don't know. I do love the Beatles. I just feel like it's like a good, like, baby place to start with music.
01:49I don't know why. I don't know. The songs are so, like, happy and, you know, at least most of them, you know.
01:54Yeah, the one that pops into my head, like, here comes the sun, something like that.
01:57So, yeah, I mean, maybe not happiness is a warm gun, but, you know, we'll keep, you know, we'll play around with the nice ones.
02:04Yeah, keep it positive. So, how did the UK tour shake out?
02:08Oh, my God. It was, I honestly, I think it was some of the best shows we've ever played, like, in our career.
02:15It was just like the energy was really, really high. Like, just nothing we've ever seen.
02:23It's just like, it's like people had been, like, locked in their bedrooms and just ready to, like, rage.
02:28So it was, it was freaking wild.
02:30I'll tell you what, when I saw you guys open up a couple days there before Thanksgiving with I Prevailed,
02:35you're right, though, the energy level of your show is just, it's unreal.
02:39I was pretty impressed, actually. There's a lot going on in that stage.
02:43Hey, I mean, we don't, we don't want to be boring.
02:47I think that's, we don't like boring bands.
02:49So we want to, we want to entertain.
02:51We want people to come home with some, like, lifelong memories and be, you know,
02:56telling their friends or their parents, you know, like, and then they did this,
02:59and then they did this, and then this happened, and then Jaime fell down,
03:04because he always falls down, you know.
03:06Yeah, we want to, we want to have fun up there.
03:08Yeah, and I mean, the amount of guitars thrown on stage, I thought, was pretty impressive as well, so.
03:13Oh, yeah, we broke one on the last, last tour.
03:16Yeah, I think I saw the video of that, yeah.
03:19You got to keep your head up.
03:20You got to have a, you got to wear, like, a hard helmet or something when you're on stage, huh?
03:23Honestly, it's, it's the techs that take, that take all the credit for this,
03:28because they have to catch it, and that's the hardest part.
03:31You know, throwing a guitar is not hard, but catching it is super hard.
03:36No, it's great.
03:37So the new record is going to be dropping here.
03:39We'll talk about that coming up in a few minutes.
03:40By the way, how was that I Prevail tour?
03:42Was it pretty good?
03:43I mean, what I saw was fantastic.
03:45Oh, it was so fun.
03:46Yeah, it was, it was amazing.
03:48You know, the whole thing was sold out, just kids going crazy.
03:52We, lots of singing, lots of jumping around, and yeah, man, every show was exciting,
03:58and yeah, we were super thankful for all the fans coming out.
04:02It was, it was great.
04:03And by the way, thanks for the whiskey that you gave me.
04:06That was nice.
04:07Normally, when I go somewhere and I only got beer or something, we were like,
04:09hey, we got some whiskey.
04:10I'm like, okay, here we go, my man.
04:13Yeah, absolutely.
04:14Yeah, whatever you, whatever you need, we got it.
04:16You want some scotch?
04:17You want some, some good old Jameson?
04:20We got you.
04:20Yeah, yeah.
04:21And I had some Jameson for sure.
04:23So when is your, when is your daughter due?
04:25Did you say, I can't recall, February?
04:27February 7th.
04:29My birthday is February 10th.
04:31Our album drops February 10th.
04:34So February is going to be a wild month for me.
04:37Yeah, that's what I was going to bring up.
04:38So yeah, the record drops in February, Jaws of Life, and that comes out.
04:42This is your fifth album.
04:44I mean, this, talk about recording this record.
04:47It's been a long time since you guys put something out.
04:49Yeah, yeah.
04:51We, we recorded it in New Orleans, which was really cool.
04:56You know, our producer, Paul Meany, is from New Orleans.
04:58And so we rented a house just outside the French Quarter.
05:03And we built the studio in the house, like, you know, just in the living room.
05:08We got drums in the living room.
05:09We got, you know, the whole thing in there.
05:12And we lived there.
05:13And so that was just, like, such a really unique, fun experience to be living in that city and having those vibes of, like, you know, because that's a music town.
05:23And, and it was, yeah, super soulful and just super special and memorable.
05:29It sounds like the theme or the, the, the plot line for Foo Fighters Studio 666.
05:37I don't know if you saw that.
05:38I haven't seen it, but, uh, did they record in a house?
05:42Yeah, they, they put the drums in the, in the living room and then they stayed there and the whole thing and all sorts of crazy stuff had, you know, started happening.
05:48So.
05:48Oh, dude.
05:49I mean, you can record an album anywhere these days.
05:51Yeah.
05:52It's pretty, it's pretty awesome.
05:53Now I've never been down to New Orleans, but it's like, uh, it does have a lot of history and it's got a lot of, uh, energy to it as well.
05:59Uh, did, did you guys pick that just because you're a producer?
06:02Is that pretty much it?
06:04Uh, yeah, for a couple of reasons, you know, like he lived there and, but we also, we just wanted a completely new experience for this album, you know, across the board, you know, so, you know, a completely new producer, um, you know, new art.
06:20Like we started with a new company that does all our design, um, you know, we, we had a new drummer on this record, Brad from Third Eye Blind played on our album.
06:29Like it was like every, everything across the board was just a new experience and we wanted it to be, uh, we wanted that, we wanted a different, you know, um, feel.
06:38Cause I think we, you know, we did our last two records in the same place and we kind of just needed something different.
06:43We were craving that.
06:44Yeah.
06:45So did you come into the, uh, sessions with, uh, stuff demoed out or was it all from scratch when you, when you first got to New Orleans?
06:53Yeah, we had, uh, all these demos, everything was demoed out.
06:57Um, you know, we had a ton of songs and we narrowed it down to our favorites and, um, and, uh, and then they progressed from there too.
07:06You know, the producer, uh, Paul was just like, okay, you know, we've got what's on there now.
07:13Let's see, let's find out what's not on there and let's explore like, and, and so it was a lot of like, you know, where else can we take these songs?
07:21How can we improve them, uh, even more from where they are?
07:24And, um, so yeah, ton of experimenting and, uh, getting out of our, um, comfort zones and stuff in a lot of ways.
07:33So, yeah, and you hadn't put out a record in seven years, uh, so do you find any added pressure, uh, around that or was this just a natural transgression of where the band's going?
07:44You know, I think all the pressure comes from each album has its own, uh, internal, I think pressures and the things that, you know, um, expectations that you put on yourself just to make a good album.
07:57Um, you know, I think, uh, I don't think it really, when it comes down to it, you, you really forget about the other album and you, you're just so, uh, engulfed in living inside of this album that you just want it to be the best that it can be.
08:11Um, so my, my mind really does forget about like what we've done before and it really focuses on making sure that this is something awesome and something, um, that we're proud of.
08:22And I've, I've asked this to, uh, to musicians before, but do you write from a place of, I can't wait to play this on stage?
08:29Oh, a hundred percent.
08:31Yeah.
08:31Yeah.
08:31I mean, um, not always, sometimes you just, you just want to make a, you know, something, uh, you know, prettier or, or, uh, I don't know, it'll, it'll be powerful in, in different ways.
08:44Um, maybe it won't be a crazy song live, but it'll be powerful to someone in their life.
08:49But like, you know, a song like Pass the Nirvana, the first song that we put out, um, that song, man, like I knew I could picture like what, what was going to happen.
09:00I was like, I want the whole crowd to jump when this song kicks in.
09:02And I, I remember thinking about what my hand movements could be for this part.
09:07And like, I was like, I was planning all, it all out in my head.
09:10Um, and we actually had like, we printed out these big posters of, um, that photographers throughout the years have taken of our crowd.
09:19So we had pictures of our crowds in the studio to kind of remind us of where we're going to be and where we've been and, and keep, uh, keep them in mind.
09:28We're writing.
09:30That's interesting.
09:30That's an interesting, uh, uh, studio trick I've never heard before.
09:34Yeah.
09:34Cause you know, we had been off the road for so long.
09:36Like we had to really like try and remind ourselves, like, you know, remember where you're going to be, you're going to be in front of this.
09:42Like, um, and that energy is, is, is something else, you know?
09:47And, um, so that, that was important to us to keep our fans in mind.
09:53Talk about that song a little bit, uh, Pass the Nirvana.
09:56Uh, you know, I was, I just talked to a Stone Gossard last week and, you know, I can remember the first time I played smells like teen spirit on the radio.
10:03Like I can remember it.
10:05I can remember when outshine first came out from Soundgarden and when I was, when I was playing a live from Pearl Jam, like that was all at the beginning of my career.
10:12So whereabouts were you at that point?
10:14Were you discovering music?
10:16Uh, well, first of all, I'm jealous that you got to talk to Stone Gossard.
10:20Cause, uh, he's one of my, uh, guitar heroes.
10:23Yeah.
10:24But, uh, yeah.
10:26Um, so is your question or is, did I grow up in that music?
10:30Is that what you're saying?
10:31Is that, is that where you, is that where you, is that where you cut your teeth?
10:33Uh, I was always like split between, um, you know, a lot of bands like you just mentioned, you know, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots.
10:43And then, and then my other side was, um, the band that I would, that I had with my brother, which would be fast punk bands.
10:51Like that were like, you know, from like the fat record, uh, era of, um, like no effects, flag wagon, Pennywise, uh, Southern California, fast punk.
11:01And, um, so we really perfected like learning that as well, you know, so I would play bars and stuff with my best friend.
11:13And we had our rock band where, you know, I would learn all those bands and I would learn how to play guitar solos and learn all these, this, this style.
11:20And then I would go home and I'd play songs with my brother where we would learn this really fast punk music.
11:27So Pierce the Vale basically became a hybrid of, you know, rock and roll and punk.
11:31Um, and then also a little bit of jazz that I learned from my dad growing up because he's a jazz guitar player.
11:36So, you know, a lot of pretty complex chords and stuff.
11:39And so, yeah, a little hybrid of all these things kind of just, you know, made our sound.
11:46Yeah. Cause I mean, obviously, you know, um, uh, bands like Nirvana and stuff, you know, did influence a lot of people, um, especially in the nineties.
11:54And I can remember, I actually talked to Stone about this last week about maybe reinventing.
11:58He said they didn't really reinvent anything, you know, although they did, they did change the landscape.
12:02Uh, uh, they did change landscape quite a bit.
12:05Yeah. I think they opened things up creatively.
12:08Like, you know, we could talk about Pearl Jam all day.
12:11Like, you know, I just think, you know, I know they came from, they came from eighties hair metal and they were like on the end of that, you know, and, and, and then they just, just kicked the doors open of like creatively what you can do.
12:21And they just, they just kind of like got rid of all the rules and, and, uh, you know, didn't want to be painted in a corner, kind of like our, our band as well.
12:31You know, we, we don't want to, you know, be told that we're one style.
12:36And, and, uh, so we've kind of set that precedent since our first album of having songs that are, you know, crazy and aggressive, but then also there's a track that has piano on it or acoustic or, you know, we always left the door open for whatever we wanted to do.
12:52And, uh, this, uh, if I'm not mistaken, did you say that, did you write some of these songs in Seattle?
12:57I did. Yeah. Um, I like to take writing trips and get out of my house and my regular studio and, uh, just makes my brain think differently.
13:08And I, I, I love Seattle so much. It's like my second home. I, I, I would love to like have a place there someday.
13:15It's just, it just feels, I just love all the music history, the grunge rock vibe, the, I love the rain, like the, you know, the dreariness of it.
13:25Like, uh, and I lived in a house, um, in Seattle, which was owned by Mike from MXPX.
13:34I don't know if you've ever heard of MXPX, but, uh, kind of a legendary punk band.
13:37And, uh, he has a house that's just dedicated to making music, a hundred year old house, two story house.
13:43They've turned it into a studio. And, uh, and so I lived there for a couple of months.
13:49I drove my truck up from San Diego and all my gear in there and set it up in, in that studio and, um, and wrote a couple of the essential songs.
13:59I think from the album, I wrote, uh, our second single that just came out, Emergency Contact, um, in that house.
14:07And, you know, I sang the vocals there and the vocals that I sang there are the ones that are on the album.
14:12And, uh, yeah, we've got a lot done up there. That was really cool.
14:16Yeah. It's kind of cool. You put yourself in these different places to get different vibes, I guess. Right.
14:22Yeah. You just got to like push yourself to kind of keep your brain moving, you know, cause I don't know, you get stuck in the same place.
14:29And sometimes you just feel stuck. Like you're just kind of spinning. And, uh, so I want to, you know, you got to stimulate like your senses a little more and, and kind of, uh, that, that really helps me a lot.
14:40So now some of the songs on this record here are a death of an executioner. Uh, even when I'm not with you, flawless execution, of course, the jaws of life, uh, resilience, uh, irrational fears, shared trauma.
14:53Uh, there's 10 or 12, uh, tracks on here. Give us like a little bit of the landscape of the land as far as, uh, as far as this album is concerned.
15:01Uh, yeah, it's, um, I think it's just a bit of a rollercoaster, just kind of like how we like to have our, our, you know, our live sets are always, you know, ups and downs, peaks and valleys.
15:14You know, you want to like keep things interesting. And, and, uh, so, but, you know, these songs were written over like a pretty long period of time.
15:22Um, um, you know, some of them, I started them like, like three or four years ago and then finally finished them for this record.
15:28And, but, uh, it's just, um, yeah, it's just a collection of, I think the, our favorite work that we, that we really wanted people to hear.
15:40Um, and, uh, there's a lot of different vibes and a lot of different stories.
15:45You know, every song is a completely different store, uh, excuse me, story, uh, and in my life lyrically and, um, and, uh, yeah, they're all like basically just little time capsules, you know, of, of, of some sort of important thing that happened in our lives.
16:03Was, uh, were any of the songs written three or four years ago that you started finished in Seattle or New Orleans that, or, or they, do they come and all finished?
16:10Uh, no, I, I finished, um, a lot of them in, in New Orleans, a lot of them, like, you know, a lot of songs are not fully, fully finished.
16:19You know, I don't, I don't think a lot of bands, I don't think you really ever go in with it, like almost a hundred percent done.
16:25There's always, you always leave the door open for, for some change at the end.
16:29Um, and, uh, so, um, so yeah, I mean, yeah, a lot of them just get worked on over time and then we really wrap them up in the studio.
16:40And, and, and, uh, call them done.
16:43Man, I'll tell you what, you got a pretty exciting 2023 coming up.
16:46I'm really, really happy for you, of course, with the birth of your daughter and then the jaws of life dropping on February 10th.
16:51And by the way, uh, since I'm a, since I'm a record guy, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that Revolver has teamed up with you guys for an exclusive metallic copper, uh, copper vinyl variants of this limited to 500 copies.
17:03So that's really cool.
17:04Yeah.
17:05Oh yeah.
17:05Yeah.
17:05We've got tons of different vinyls.
17:07Uh, um, yeah, I mean the tons of touring coming up, um, I mean, we've already done a ton of touring and it feels like we haven't even started yet.
17:18Like, you know, the album isn't even out yet.
17:20So, uh, we have a lot ahead of us, um, super exciting, um, tours coming up and planning everything with our team.
17:28And, um, yeah, I, I mean, we are very thankful.
17:33Like, I think, uh, appreciation is the word that for our band right now, you know, I think since we've been off the road for so long, like everything that we do is like a new appreciation, you know, from being in the studio recording to being back on the road to just honestly just being in a room together.
17:49It feels like it's just so nice to be a band again and, uh, and to, um, you know, just, just be back at it and with a new, fully new perspective.
17:59And it's, it's really important to us that we, um, you know, have this appreciation for, for what we do again.
18:08Yeah.
18:08A few years ago when he would have said that I would have said, oh, the band broke up or they had problems or whatever the case is.
18:12But of course, after that lockdown and the pandemic, it's like, it is a whole new world out there when you get back out on stage and see your fans again, isn't it?
18:19Honestly?
18:19Yeah.
18:20I mean, you know, we're completely different people from the last time we stepped on stage, you know, and, uh, and that is just like incredible.
18:28Um, honestly, I, I don't know.
18:30I've never felt so much, uh, emotionally from, from the crowd and from being on the road.
18:38And, uh, and, um, it's pretty incredible, you know, cause I think, you know, we started the band, you know, over, I don't know, almost 15 years ago.
18:48And, uh, it's, we've been building it since then, but we never stopped ever.
18:54Like we just, it's a cycle, you know, you tour, you write, you tour, you write, you record, like, it's just like, boom, boom, boom.
19:01And then when we finally did stop, it's like, man, it really put everything in perspective and, and, um, made us really crave it.
19:11And in a, in a really visceral, real way, um, that we've never felt ever.
19:17So, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's pretty amazing, man.
19:20It's, it's, it's incredible.
19:22Like we have these three shows coming up in San Diego that I just like, I'm, I'm very just, I don't know.
19:30I don't know what the word is.
19:31I just can't wait to do them.
19:32I can't wait to see the people.
19:34Um, and, uh, yeah, it's going to be amazing.
19:37Well, like I was talking with John Waite last week and it's like, when, when everything's shut down, it's like, you miss being around people that have the same like ilk as you do.
19:45And you miss being around your fans because they're all there to see you and you're there to see them in return.
19:49And also when that's taken away, it's like, you know, you kind of, you kind of realize what you're missing when that's all gone.
19:55Yeah.
19:55And, uh, you know, I remember like we would get off tour and we'd be home for like a month or two and we would do interviews and stuff and we'd be like, ah, man, we can't wait to get back on the road.
20:06Like, uh, you know, uh, we miss it so much.
20:09Um, like I, I, I've been home for too long, blah, blah, blah, but I don't, I don't think that that was really felt deep in a deep way.
20:19I think it was very surface.
20:21And then, um, but when you're actually home for years, then you, it's a new level of, of, of internal, like real, real feeling of like, ah, my heart is like, it's hurting because, you know, we're not out there doing what we're supposed to be doing.
20:38And so, and now our hearts are so full, like, it's just like, oh God, it's just can't get enough of, of, of everything right now.
20:46So, um, and yeah, and it's real, like it's, it's, it's like, it's in, it's in you.
20:52Um, so yeah, that's just like such a new feeling.
20:55It's, it's awesome.
20:57Yeah.
20:57You got those hometown shows coming up, like you said, to wrap up the year, which is going to be awesome for you guys.
21:02Uh, they're telling me to wrap it up here, but I wanted to give you a chance to plug your living the dream foundation.
21:06So we started talking about that a little bit before we started recording.
21:08So tell everyone what that's about.
21:10Yeah.
21:11Um, living the dream is my nonprofit and we basically just bring, um, kids and young adults who are suffering from life threatening illnesses, uh, you know, having a rough time.
21:21We use our connections and everything that we can do within the music industry to bring them out to concerts and festivals.
21:30And, uh, our guests get to meet their heroes, their favorite bands.
21:35They get to watch from the stage.
21:36They get this full VIP experience that, um, really only people in the music industry can provide, you know, cause we have all the connections, you know, we know all the bands, we know all the festival runners.
21:48And, uh, even down to the guitar techs, you know, we, so we can like really put on a, an, a, an amazing day for these kids.
21:57And, um, and, uh, and it's really just using what we already know and, and, and just what we do every day for something cool and something for a good cause.
22:06So, um, so yeah, so living in dream foundation, check it out.
22:10Like, you know, we were all over social media and stuff and you can kind of see like firsthand, like what it looks like, you know, like, like the other day we brought, um, uh, this kid out to one of the Danny Wimmer festivals and, um, they got to meet, um, Corey Taylor from Slipknot.
22:26And, and, you know, we've, you can just watch the interaction and how much it uplifts, not just our guest who is really deserving of this day, but also Corey Taylor, you know, like everyone is lifted and, uh, it's a beautiful thing.
22:41Um, so, uh, so yeah, if you want to check it out, we'd appreciate it.
22:45Yeah.
22:46It's so cool to, to, to, to use what you do and to, to bring a smile and, and, and not only that, but an experience to people's lives because, uh, you know, that's something you can't put a price on when they get to meet their heroes.
22:56Like that and their heroes in return are so reciprocal of their, uh, you know, of everything.
23:01Oh yeah.
23:02Yeah.
23:02And, you know, sometimes they stay in touch too.
23:05Like they want to like get their information and like, you know, follow their journey.
23:08And, um, it's, it's super uplifting.
23:11Um, you know, our, our lives like on tour can get a little monotonous, you know, like every, every day, like doing our schedules and stuff like that.
23:18And then when something like this comes along, it really like, uh, it can elevate your day.
23:24It can, it can turn a bad day into a good day and it can, uh, um, and it can do so much for these kids who are fighting, like really struggling and fighting.
23:33And a day like that is like, you know, full of joy and adrenaline and, and, uh, uh, energy that maybe they haven't felt in, in months, you know?
23:44So, uh, um, yeah, I, I really appreciate being a part of it and I appreciate you mentioning it.
23:50Thank you for, you know, telling people about it.
23:52Yeah, for sure.
23:53It sounds like a really great cause now I got to go follow it on all the socials, but, uh, Hey Vic, I really great to meet you back there before Thanksgiving.
23:59Thanks for everything.
23:59The show was outstanding.
24:00Looking forward to the new record, the jaws of life on February 10th and really congratulations.
24:05Uh, you know, uh, I, my daughter was born 21 years ago, so feel free to reach out to me.
24:09If you're looking for any, uh, uh, daughterly advice.
24:12Oh, wow.
24:13Yeah, dude, I will need all the good advice you got, man.
24:16I, I am new dad here going in fresh, so bring it all my way, please.
24:22Well, thanks so much for your time.
24:23Have a great 2023.
24:24Okay.
24:25Thank you, brother.
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